Technicolor copying method

[Telecolor 3007]

"Technicolor" filming method was hard. You needed a lot of light, besides needing a lot of film. But the copying method used by this company was intresting, trough all time consuming probably. And films copyed by this method in the '50's and '60's didn't had theyr colours fading away, like "Kodak" films had. But I wonder how hard would be to use this methode today? Today's color films don't have nice colours and with the "Technicolor" method you could probably "make" your own colours.

 

[W9TR]

This is a fascinating subject. I understand that Technicolor printmaking was like a printing press process with separate CMYK layers ‘printed’ onto the copy, with dyes absorbing into the film stock. This created a rich and saturated look that the dye sublimation films from Kodak and others just couldn’t duplicate. Is my understanding correct?

I have a bunch of Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides. I shot both but preferred Kodachrome. My Kodachrome slides are still perfect, but the Ektachrome slides have all faded in the magenta layer and have enormous blue/green cast.

I know that Kodachrome and Technicolor are different processes but I like the look of both of them.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

Yes, that's how they made the copies.

 

[old_tv_nut]

... dye sublimation films from Kodak and others...

Dye sublimation is the wrong term. It refers to a method of computer printing by heating a dye sheet that is in contact with the output paper.
Kodachrome and Ektachrome would be called "chromogenic."

 

[old_tv_nut]

... But I wonder how hard would be to use this methode today? ...

Very hard. A Technicolor printing plant had all the stages of dye transfer lined up one after the other. The dye concentration, pH, and temperature of each stage was crucial. They had real-time inspection at the end of each stage with intercoms so they could give instant feedback on the running result. Despite the extreme care, if you pay attention to some Technicolor prints you can see a rythmic "breathing" of the color balance over a period of a few seconds, which looks like it was varying in synchronization with film reel rotation.

The registration also was not perfect, and wandered within a certain tolerance that ended up reducing the resolution of the prints, even when the negatives and transfer matrixes were new and had not shrunk randomly from sitting in the vault. When Warner Bros. did a digital restoration of "Robin Hood," obtaining perfect registration, they found details like gold threads in Maid Marian's costume that could not be resolved in the original prints.

By the way, the black imprint, if used, was a preprinted silver image, not a dye transfer.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

The "Technicolor" transfer process was used up to the '60's or '70's I think. From other color prints.

 

[old_tv_nut]

The Wikipedia article Technicolor - Wikipedia has a complete timeline including the closing of the last plant, in China, in 1993, and a revival of a "refined version" (whatever that means) from 1997 -2002.